


Lovesick

by TariSilmarwen



Series: Whumptober 2020 [6]
Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Sick Character, Sickfic, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:02:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27204241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TariSilmarwen/pseuds/TariSilmarwen
Summary: He wasn't going to let a little fever keep him from seeing her.
Relationships: Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna
Series: Whumptober 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954951
Kudos: 48





	Lovesick

**Author's Note:**

> Such a cheesy title and this has way more ship fluff than whump but... whatever, writer's prerogative.
> 
> Prompt used was **No. 25 I Think I'll Just Collapse Right Here Thanks: Disorientation/Blurred Vision**.

_"So you'll be there?"_ asked the anxiously eager voice of his girlfriend.

Kazuto tucked his cell phone between his ear and his shoulder as he pulled open the bathroom door. "Yeah, Asuna, I'll be right there," he told her, smiling. "Just going to take a quick shower and then come right over."

Asuna gave a breathless sound of contentment. _"I'm so glad! It wouldn't be the same without you, Kirito."_ He could hear the smile in her voice as she said, "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay Asuna. I love you," he replied.

_"Love you."_

Kazuto clicked the hangup button, and twisted the faucet for the water.

-SAO-

He felt unusually warm when he got out, shaking the water out of his hair with a towel. He pulled on his clothes, shivering a little in the soft cotton.

He dismissed the feeling as a reaction to the scalding hot shower water, grabbing his jacket and keys and helmet, calling out a goodbye to his aunt as he stepped outside into the frigid winter air. A light speckling of snow was starting to come down. He shivered again as the chilly breeze nipped at his face, throwing a leg over the seat of his motorcycle and revving it up.

Truth be told, he would have preferred not to go to the party. It was nothing big, just a little get-together at Agil's with all of their friends, to study and reminisce, but he had been tired all day and felt more like crawling into bed and curling up under the warm covers.

But Asuna had asked him to be there, and he couldn't disappoint her. He adored her too much, loved seeing her smiling and happy, ached with longing just to hold her hand again, even though it had only been yesterday since they'd seen each other at school.

He sighed to himself, shaking his head.

He was so hopeless around her.

He kicked off the pavement, ignoring his fatigue and the biting wind and heading towards downtown.

-SAO-

Asuna lit up upon seeing him, bouncing swiftly from her seat and nearly flying towards the door as he came through, shaking snow off his arms. He beamed widely at her as she happily called his name.

She slowed a little, a note of concern taking her eyes as she tilted her head. "Are you all right?" she asked him.

"Yes," he replied, with some confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You look a little flushed."

He shook his head dismissively. "Just... really excited to see you."

That made her tingle with happiness from head to toe, and she grinned again and flung herself into his arms, drawing complaints from behind from the others about how gross they were being. Her hand slipped easily into his, his skin feeling warm and comfortable against her palm, and she led him to a table.

-SAO-

"I can't believe I've forgotten so much math!" Lisbeth complained, sprawling out dramatically on her arms on the table as Kazuto and Asuna watched with amusement. "How is that even possible? My entire _life_ in the blacksmith shop was math! Profit margins, success probabilities, stat boosters!"

Asuna laughed and patted Lisbeth's hand, saying something reassuring Kazuto was sure, but for some reason her voice seemed oddly far away, muted and distant. He shook his head, but the fuzziness in his ears didn't disappear.

The strange heat in his body had increased, and yet whenever Asuna or one of the others had asked if he wanted to take off his jacket he'd had a strange reluctance to. The warmth between the fleece and his skin was uncomfortable, and his body felt sore, his skin... delicate to the touch.

He couldn't deny it anymore, he was coming down with something. Something that was very quickly sapping him, overtaking him.

It would have been prudent to go home, probably.

Asuna was looking forward to this, though, he argued to himself. Surely he could pretend he was fine for a little longer, to make her happy.

Belatedly, he realized she was talking at him, and strained to pay attention.

"—Kazuto?" she called, the only clear word he heard.

It must have been serious if she was using his real name. Kazuto tried to kickstart his thoughts into coherence but the chills were distracting and his eyes couldn't focus and his head felt like it was tilting over.

"Are you okay?" Asuna asked him.

A tired smile. A quick dismissive shake of his head. "I'm fine," he insisted. His voice wavered a little.

Lisbeth and Asuna both frowned at him across the table, at least he thought so.

"You don't _sound_ fine," Lisbeth told him.

"Yeah bud, you look a little pale," Klein added, walking over from the bar, a drink in his hand.

He opened his mouth to respond with another denial...

...and suddenly found himself falling over.

"Kirito!" came several panicked voices. Kazuto heard the tinkling of broken glass, felt a steadying pair of arms grabbing his bicep, hauling him up before he could spill out of his seat. Klein placed him back upright in the chair and the next thing he knew, Asuna's face was swimming in his vision, her white hand flush across his forehead, cool against the heat that seemed to radiate from him.

"Wha?" he mumbled, confused.

His girlfriend was giving an aggravated sigh. "God, you're such an idiot," she complained. "If you were feeling sick you should have said something!" she scolded.

Shame blossomed across his face, joining with the fever already in his cheeks. He ducked his eyes down, staring at the blurry grains.

"Sorry," he said. "I just... I knew you wanted to see me so..."

She sighed again, but this time it had an edge of fond long-suffering. "Agil, put the drinks on my tab, I need to get my idiot boyfriend home to rest."

"Will do, Asuna," he told her.

The girl elbowed Klein out of her way, pulling Kazuto up to his feet. He wanted to protest, but the whole act of standing made his head spin dizzily, so he reluctantly conceded defeat, and allowed Asuna to guide him out towards the door.

She was already calling for a car to come pick them up. His bleary mind thought about asking her to make sure his motorcycle got home, only for his ears to catch her already taking care of it, relaying the request to the person on the other end.

His shoulders relaxed in relief. He was glad.

"Sorry Asuna," he apologized again. "It kind of snuck up on me. I wasn't feeling so bad an hour ago."

She squeezed his arm affectionately. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you did it on purpose just to get me home with you."

His mouth quirked with a cheeky grin. "Did it work?" he joked.

She lightly punched his arm. "You get one bowl of homemade soup. Then you're going to bed," she told him firmly.

"Yes dear," he quipped again, like a henpecked husband, and counted himself a victory when she laughed.

-SAO-

A while later, with his body tucked under the soft covers, the smell of Asuna's cooking wafting up to him, enticing even through the pounding headache and fever he felt, he wondered again what he had done to deserve her.


End file.
